Day 19

Day 19- Roomies- Nick Fuentes

David Lefterson here again. It has now been a couple of weeks since I started my freshman year at St. Edward’s. Hell on the Hilltop is beginning to drive me completely crazy. Every professor takes attendance and counts late arrivals as an absence, and of course my dorm room is literally on the opposite side of campus of all my classes. I have to walk from Teresa to the Art Building daily, and usually by the time I reach Main Building my shirt is drenched in sweat. I don’t think I’ve been describing the heat in this city very accurately. IT IS HOTTER THAN HELL EVERYDAY (Hell- biblical inferno of doom/Austin average temperature). And everyone tells me that the temperature will remain at boiling point until… well it never ends actually.

Changing shirts between classes, you’d be surprised at how many gallons of sweat the shirts I wear absorb, and showing up to EVERY class is exactly as annoying as you might think. Eventually I’ll have to get used to the awful heat and maybe the strict attendance policies, but I don’t think I will ever get over my roommate situation.

My tiny cell of a dorm room is split right down the middle, and the guy who occupies the side opposite of mine is a perfect fit for St. Edward’s. My cellmate’s name is Henry Wrightinger from Lubbock, Texas and he is a dedicated Finance major. I hardly see him throughout the day; he believes in the “early bird gets the worm,” “time is money” and “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” set of guiding principles. So by seven in the morning he is up and out of the room. I can’t even remember the last time I woke up (usually three hours after Henry) and his bed wasn’t made to military specs. His bed is picture perfect every day and his side of the room is organized for “optimal money making.” The only thing more organized than his desk, closet, bed, calculators (who needs more than one?) and Wrightinger in general, is Webster’s Dictionary, and that’s only because the book one ups him by the alphabetical ordering of the words. He is very particular about his button-up shirts and dress pants, which he wears on casual Fridays. No, this school doesn’t have organized casual Friday’s, he just proclaims it’s a casual Friday on the Helltop whenever he feels so inclined. St. Ed’s does have a cool policy about classes after 2pm on Fridays, but freshman have to attend Financial and Economic boot camp in place of classes after 2pm. All other days of the week Wrightinger sports finely pressed suits that look expensive and are probably excruciating to wear in this heat.

When we are in our shoebox room at the same time, it isn’t pleasant. Mostly because he’s massive (he plays on the football team). He said he guards the quarterback, which is apparently a responsibility in football meant for 6’ 6” 290 pound men. Apart from the special issues, my mounds of sweat-drenched clothes and abundance of art supplies sometimes find their way on his side of the room and disrupt his financial haven mojo. I asked my dorm director if we could maybe switch roommates or be separated; he said the roommate survey we took prior to the semester is flawless and Henry and I will be besties soon enough. He didn’t use the word “besties.” He said “business partners,” which is practically besties at this school. I know for a fact that the survey is not even reviewed by anyone at St. Ed’s, because I specifically indicated by order of preference that I want to live in Hunt Hall, then Dujarie, and then if need be Basil. I never even considered Teresa.

Also, it’s obvious that Henry would have asked to live with a business professional like himself, or a fellow football teammate, or maybe someone a little more organized and who didn’t have Theater buddies who barge into his dorm regularly and unannounced. Also, he probably doesn’t want to live with someone who mocks his motivational posters of words like “Determination” accompanied by an action shot of an eagle or something.

I don’t see us getting along anytime soon and the administrators on the Helltop pretty much don’t care. So this is just another thing that I’m stuck with as long as I stay enrolled.

I’m sweating just thinking about how much longer I’ll have to share a room with Henry. Which reminds me, I have a lot of laundry that needs my attention.